Talking our experiences in organic farming, gardening, fruits in season like quenepas, spanish limes, avocados and tropical fruit trees. Here I will also bring comments on food products and recipes from the Caribbean Islands of Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico. Welcome to my blog. Join us, it's free!

Winter: Time to get your seeds started

Vegetable seeds may take from 2 to 21 days to germinate. It all depends on the veggie variety and the temperature where these seeds will be germinating. The warmer, the fastest will seeds germinate, the coldest the slowest.

Lettuce-Lechuga del paisWe get very happy when we start seen these sprouts growing bigger and bigger. However, when I first started gardening and bought my first seeds, I always remember been in the lookout on the days to maturity written on the back of the envelope. More than one time I said to myself: wow! lettuce in 30 days! Hey….worth the wait vs. going to the supermarket every week! Yeah right.

When I got really serious about gardening I realized the day to maturity in the back of the envelope, was an approx time AFTER thining and even transplanting in the ground! What a discouragement!! So, soon I saw my lettuce growing on the ground and eating my first batch of lettuce in almost 3 months!

Now, I learned of successive sowing. When I transplant my lettuce, right then I start a new pack of seeds. Today, I am an Organic Gardener having fresh lettuce at least 3 times a week for dinner. But, I also learned another lesson. Puerto Rico (where I live) has Tropical weather year round….so…when is the best time to grow lettuce? If I bought other than local lettuce seeds (from USA or UK) the package says: Full sun. Transplant after last frost. Keep soil moist.

Ok…after last frost? ha haha…there’s no snow in PR! so I learned when I grow seeds from other countries to adjust to my local weather. If it say after last frost I transplant in November, this way I don’t have spend extra money in sheltering from the sun, usually at 102 degrees in the summer time.

There’s a lot to learn about gardening. Everyday I spoil seeds and/or new sprouts. But everyday I learn something new. It is worth the wait to eat fresh organic vegetables!

Buy Puerto Rican vegetable seeds here. Internationals, please send me email BEFORE placing any order in my website. Shipping & Handling will not be calculated for Internationals, but manually instead.